He “Hit” Me First

Nothing like trying to solve a dispute between two kids, right? My wife and I have raised three of our own children and it never fails that whenever I as the parent go into a fight and attempt to resolve a dispute between two kids I will hear those ever so faithful words, “but he or she hit me first.”

In my quite time with the Lord I was reading through some of Jesus’ teachings, and Jesus taught some things that, to me, seemed to be a bit challenging to say the least. Check out these verses. Matthew 5:39-42 “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [thy] cloke also. 41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” I can hear some of you now in the words of my oldest daughter “Dad, Seriously?”

To be a follower of Jesus Christ meant that we are being asked to follow Christ, literally. Now that’s a novel idea. But think about that for a minute, Christ said to turn the other cheek when someone hits you. Hang-on I’m not finished yet. Jesus says if someone sues you for a shirt, don’t fight it. Take of your jacket and give them that as well as the shirt. It gets even more extreme than that, check this out. Jesus says if someone asks for your help to clean their house, don’t just clean their house but help them clean their basement as well.

Now if you think that’s radical, check this one out. Jesus says and I’m going to quote this one Matthew 5:43-44“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Now if you read that, your probably thinking what I was thinking this morning as I read through those passages. Jesus is probably talking spiritual and not literal right?

Ok, here’s the deal. Jesus wants all who follow him to understand that to follow him means that we do what he did, even if the doing cost us some discomfort. Though you may be attending a church that’s teaching otherwise, what I have just shared with you in scripture is really what it means to be a “Christ follower.” I wonder after reading this would you say that you truly are following in the steps of Christ or are you one of those people who just talk about. There’s a word for that kind of thing, it begins with an “H” and ends in “Hypocrite.”